Pre Sales Questions

[amuzed2pieces]

I have small company and looking for a little advise. Did some research on available PBX solutions, and am comparing them, but there is not comparison on your site. We currently only have 3 POTS lines, no PBX. Low call volume, its manufacturing, nothing fancy really needed, my keys are ease of use with 4 lines and low knowledge of IT by users, and ease of installation. We have about 40 Vendors, and 200 customers. More incoming calls than outgoing.

I want to move to 4 In/Out lines, with 7-10 extensions, and need only basic features: Hold, transfer, intercom, VM, IM. I have both an extra Linux server and Windows Server available right now. So hardware is not an issue, neither is platform. I am familiar with both.

Besides platform, how do: 3CX, NCH Axiom, Elastix, Fortinet, PBX in a Flash (or other Asteriks Distros) compare for cost and ease of use for a small business? Is 3CX better for very large businesses? Or small ones like mine?

For Phone Hardware, I am favoring Yeaklink T46 for main/manager phones. For room extensions, primary use will be intercom with occasional fail-over. What is a decent intercom single line SIP phone? And which PBX has easiest to use intercom features.

I know many software companies focus on the big customer, call center, etc, but which is best for a small company? Thanks in advance.

 

[gschwab]

While I don't know how 3CX compares to the others you mentioned as I have no experience with them I can relate what I know.
We are also a small manufacturing/ service company. I purchased the 8 call version and maintain the upgrade insurance on it each year, money well spent in my opinion.
I am NOT an IT professional but I do have a pretty good understanding of computers and networks. I have found 3CX to be a very reliable system with all of the features you mentioned and many more. I installed the system myself using all Yealink phones. I ditched the POTS lines and went with a Nexvortex SIP trunk which cut my phone bill from nearly $500.00 US dollars per month to just under $170.00 per month, (I am in the southeast US so this may or may not work for you). I have had this setup for over a year now and I am super satisfied.

 

[leejor]

Besides platform, how do: 3CX, NCH Axiom, Elastix, Fortinet, PBX in a Flash (or other Asteriks Distros) compare for cost and ease of use for a small business? Is 3CX better for very large businesses? Or small ones like mine?

The 3CX feature set, for all users is the same, with the exception of large call centres. So the smallest of businesses has the ability to expand in the future, with any feature available if they choose to use it. With 3CX you pay for the number of concurrent calls you expect to use. While many of the other systems you have mentioned, have no up-front cost, they may not be as easy to set up or maintain for someone without an extensive knowledge of the OS that they run on. 3CX, on the other hand is all graphical based (no command lines) and other, new users, have said they have found it very easy to use when compared to some of the systems you listed. There is a "free" Demo that can be tested and configured, and if you then decide it works for you, you can purchase a licence. You'd be out for the hardware but could re-use it on any other SIP platform PBX that you decided you'd rather go with.
For a small business it could be as simple as a single Ring Group, where all sets ring when there is an incoming call.